This whole state service mess the Government created is a tale of two dudes, same job, same misdemeanour but two very different outcomes.
Former Te Whatu Ora and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Chair Rob Campbell breached rules of political impartiality and got the axe.
Pharmac, ACC and Education Chair Steve Maharey breached the same rules but is being fiercely protected by the government and Prime Minister.
Rob Campbell told Tova O'Brien he thinks his comments on LinkedIn had very little to do with why he was stripped from his chairing roles.
"I apologised, I offered to go in and talk to the ministers about the issues and they were hell-bent on getting rid of me for some other reason," Campbell said.
He told O'Brien it is no secret he has had a lot to say about the failings of the New Zealand health system and that this could have played a part in his eventual sackings.
"These are the people who presided over the mess that the health system has gotten into and they want to keep behaving in the same way as they behaved getting us into the mess pretending they are going to get us out of the mess.
"That's not going to work. It's efficiency and equity in the health system that matters but they want to get rid of anybody who stands in the way."
Campbell said he has received a number of messages from people saying they no longer feel they are able to express their personal opinions in the public domain or that they don't want to enter into senior public sector roles for fear after seeing his case.
The Prime Minister and Health Minister both said that if Campbell had apologised and promised not to do it again, he could have kept his roles, but he isn't buying it.
"I don't believe that's true.
"Not only did I apologise but I offered to work through with them how we would manage any such situations or the avoidance of any such situations in the future.
"We could've found a way to work through this but frankly they didn't want to."
Listen to the full interview between Rob Campbell and Tova above.
You can also download the full interview on the Tova podcast, and listen on the go. Download the rova app on apple or android to listen to this podcast on the go, or anywhere else you get your podcasts.
